It must have been a sadist of the highest order who determined our National Elections should be held in leap years. Thus we are subjected to an extra day of politics, electioneering and all around unpleasantness.
It may be my age, but is seems every election the crop of candidates becomes increasingly unacceptable. Seriously, this is America, the greatest nation in the history of Earth, and this is the best we can do? I am not just talking the Presidency either. Prospective candidates for nearly every office are the kind of self-serving power-hungry bossy-pants individuals most of us hated in high school, and today we would never hang out with on a dare. You know it to be true.
Why is it the seekers of office are the people who always seem to think they know what is good for us? They were the kid in class that always had to make all of the rules anytime you played a game. The jerk that put himself in charge, even if nobody recognized it. My ancestors came here because they did not like the King or Clergy or local I'm-in-charge asshat telling them what to do. That has not been bred from my genes in the intervening centuries. Perhaps I am an anachronism from our Country's past. I hope not, but I cannot understand the willingness of so many Americans to expect the Government to provide food, healthcare, the basics of life?
The problem with being a sheep is that there is always a sheep dog around to keep you in line.
The politicians are always calling the GOP the party of NO. That is a joke, the Repubs are just the party of "not-as-much -as-the-Democrats" and they are trying their very best to be bigger Governmental meddlers than their counterparts. Across the land we see so-called conservatives advocating smoking bans and even mandatory vaginal ultrasound at abortion clinics in Virginia. I can only mutter a depressed "What the Fuck are they thinking"? Those big-government jackoffs are no more conservative than the strongest supporter of Lenin. Is there no politicians who understand the concept of personal freedom?
I want a Party of No. I will donate my time and treasure to help elect the first politician who proclaims he is truly the NO candidate. I am sick of hearing what would-be office holders are going to do for me. What they want to impose upon the collective nation/state/county/city/neighborhood housing association. We do not need more laws and rules. We do not need more regulation. We need less of government at every level. I want someone to tell me what he is not going to do. What regulations will she strip, what laws will he repeal? I want to vote for the woman who will ask before casting her vote upon any proposed law "what is the role of Government here? Why are we doing this? Is this necessary for the basic tenets of the Constitution?
I don't need the Government to tell me what to feed my kids. The laws and regulations of this nation are ponderous. We are all criminals. We have gone from protecting us from each other to protecting us from ourselves.
I say No. Enough already.
End disjointed nonsensical rant.
THIS is exactly the kindof out-of-control 'government" I am talking about. It is at all levels.
Look into Gary Johnson.
ReplyDeleteWhat happens when a fifth grader shows up with a "cool" mohawk in your class and all the kids around him are looking at him and either high-fiving him for the whole period OR laughing at him ,which makes him mad and he starts crying ‘cause kids are making fun of him and saying he looks stupid. Then the parent calls and says his kid is being bullied. All because the parent was too spine-less to say No, that haircut isn't school appropriate. Unless, of course, they are Native Americans and that is their tribal hairstyle AND a majority of the tribe wears their hair that way. They are called rules and rules prevent anarchy. That being said, the principal should have called the parents and worked out an agreement of some sort but if it is in the school handbook then the parent shouldn't have let his/her kid dye their hair in the first place. Alright, here we go let the bashing begin.
ReplyDeleteRules are rules. I understand your position, but doesn't the scenario you share really prove my point? We have moved from rules that protect society as a whole to rules that protect us from ourselves?
ReplyDeleteI bet mohawk kid never gets a stupid haircut again.
But what do we say when former mohawk kid comes to school six years later and guns down every kid who laughed at his stupid haircut?
We are breeding a generation of Americans who think someone else is to blame for everything. That is the end result of the nanny state/it is not fair mentality we encourage.
I don't have answers. I do know suspending a girl from school because she has blue streaks in her hair is nuts.
ps. I am told that blue streaks in the hair would have merited the same discipline in our local school system. I guess it is example 6,318 where I am out of step.
Total bullshit rule as are most of the newest rules from nanny state so called public officials. The vast majority of school board members are on a massive ego trip along with principals, who are suppose to be qualified teachers but can't cut it in a class room. Turning your children over to the state so the so called parents can continue to be half ass grownups.
ReplyDeleteJames Old Guy
We shouldn't have to have rules that restrict students from having blue streaks in their because parents shouldn't be stupid enough to let their kids put blue streaks in their hair. But we DO have parents who are stupid and they cross all political demarcations. And if any of you readers think that a kid coming to school with a mohawk/blue streaks/FU t-shirt, (hey man, I’m a Florida University fan), etc… doesn’t cause disruptions in the classroom you are sadly mistaken. I’d love to be able to walk into my classroom and just teach but I’ve got to deal with kids’ IEPs, 504s, med lists, behavior mods, gang crap,(mostly fake around here), girls’ boobs and guys’ cracks hanging out and a state superintendent and governor who think teachers are overpaid slackers. All this BULLSHIT didn’t come from one party. And no political affiliation can lay claim to having the corner on the market of REAL parents.
ReplyDeleteNow I’d love to write some more to piss you all off , but it’s past 10pm and I’m half way through the stack of papers I have to grade and with the funky weather their predicting for tomorrow I’m guessing we’ll need to move to Devcon 2 ‘cause the kids will be nuts. Hmmm maybe I should get a blue streak in my hair…
How would you respond to this:
Me (taking attendance): “Has anybody seen Billy?”
Student 1: “He’s in the office. He punched Joe in the gut.”
Me: “Did Joe punch him back?”
Student 2: “No, but my Dad says that if somebody hits me I should hit them back harder.”
It makes me sad that we have so many kids who feel the need to have blue hair.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me sad that there are teachers (and so-called writers) who write (and get away with writing) things like: "Now I’d love to write some more to piss you all off , but it’s past 10pm and I’m half way through the stack of papers I have to grade and with the funky weather THEIR predicting for tomorrow..." (Emphasis added.)
But, it IS reality.
Um, no one claimed any political party has a premium on raising kids. In fact the rant is about how BOTH political parties suck. One could make the argument the rant is mor eanti-Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteLife is full of distractions. Phones ring in business meetings, Emergencies pop up. Life always gets in the way of where we want to focus. If a student is distracted by a girl's blue streaks, then there are far greater issues.
It makes me sad that Who cares... is saddened by my misspelling of they’re(their) and was in such a stupor that he/she couldn’t respond to the query I presented. I’m curious, how am I “getting away” with writing anything. Are teachers not allowed to make mistakes? Is it that I used a profanity or that I opined that the students would be “nuts” because of the weather. Just to make you all smile, I got to spend 1 hour and twenty minutes in a boy’s bathroom with 29 8th graders while the storms passed through. I hope that Who cares… isn’t again saddened by Joe’s slight typo in his response, (perhaps it was a show of solidarity with me). Two days in a row of sadness would be a bummer.
ReplyDeleteJoe, do we need any rules in the classroom? Why?
I never get too worked up typos on the blog. I make so many, you would not believe it. I do take extra care in my business correspondence. I am sure you make similar effort in the classroom, Teach.
ReplyDeleteOf course we need rules in the classroom. I also think we need to teach basic manners and etiquette. One has to set certain behavior expectations in the classroom.
Unfortunately, too many parents are of the "my kid is an angel" parenting technique. When there is no discipline at home, there can be none at school.
Kids will be kids. Show me a group of three middle school girls and two will turn on one every time. Show me a group of similar aged boys and they will find the weakness of one of the crowd and make fun of it. This is nothing new (read Tom Sawyer).
Learning how to stand up and live and work in the group dynamic is part of growing up. Why are there so many movies and books recounting the isolation and loneliness of the high school and middle school years? Because we all experienced it.
I also know that the State has mandated so much in order to improve test scores. So many of basic life lessons are glossed over. I am sure you cannot take a few hours out of the Middle School day to discuss life with your students. That is too bad.
Kindergarten should not be so structured there is no time for play, for learning how to get along with others, to share, to do art projects (for a few examples). Yet it is. Most of us would not believe what goes on in Kindergarten anymore. Stuff you and I learned in first and second grade is now thrust upon younger and younger students. And the State wonders why schools are failing!
I do not have the all of the answers. I do know that we need to focus on teaching, on education and leave the packing of lunch and haircuts to the parents. I know a lot of teachers, and they all agree.
I guess this long response should have been a post.